February Scholar: Rabbi Shoshana Cohen
"Respond and Say” - Speech: Ritual, Understanding and Community
Tuesday, February 12 @ 7:30PM

What function does speech hold in a ritual setting? How does this compare to a legal setting? What happens when the two overlap? How does divine speech relate to the way people speak and act? When does language create community and when does it create barriers?

The beginning of Yerushalmi Sotah chapter 7 (and its parallel in Megilla chapter 1) is a rich meditation on the nature and function of language. On a journey through prayer, prophesy, interpretation and legal declarations this text will allow us to explore the role language, the speech act, plays in our community, society and personal lives. Rabbi Cohen teaches Talmud, Midrash, and Gender Studies at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem and is a founding member of Reshut haRabim, the Jerusalem Forum for Jewish Renewal Organizations.

*This event will be livestreamed at adasisrael.org/adaslive